


Fear

by Suzariah



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Angst, Creepy youkai, Gen, Graphic Description, Happy Ending, Horror, Hurt/Comfort, I say slight but its probably slightly more than slight, Injury, Major Character Injury, Nightmares, Psychological Horror, Slight tanunatsu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-02
Updated: 2016-11-02
Packaged: 2018-08-28 14:51:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8450644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Suzariah/pseuds/Suzariah
Summary: Natsume is well acquainted with fear in its most basic forms. Monsters don't scare Natsume. For him, true fear is something else entirely.





	

The weather felt unusually warm. Leaves crunched under his feet as he walked, slightly lagging behind his friends. He didn’t mind though, enjoying their nervous chatter from a small distance. Something about the air and the atmosphere had left Natsume in a more pensive mood and so he observed his friends conversations, only contributing when he felt the need.

He’d feel their gazes on him every few moments and he appreciated their concern, it was just one of those days. Several youkai had visited him the night before to ask for their names and he was left reeling with memories from Reiko to sort through on top of exhaustion.

The wind blew harshly and despite the air lacking its normal bite for this time of year, he huddled into his scarf and jacket. 

“You scared, Natsume?” Nishimura said, detaching himself from Kitamoto’s side. “You’ve been pretty quiet.”

Natsume gave a small chuckle.  “No, I’m fine.” Nishimura seemed discouraged and he smiled sympathetically. “You’ll be fine; I doubt this will be that scary.”

A loud scream followed his words and Nishimura latched onto Natsume’s arm. Natsume turned towards the sound, a small speaker attached to a cardboard cutout of a zombie stood just on the side of the wall.

Kitamoto grinned mischievously. “I’m so glad Sasada recommended this place.”

This place was typically advertised as a sort of fun house/maze attraction, but it was Halloween in North America so they were doing a horror theme for the weekend.  

Nishimura’s grip loosened and he eventually returned to Kitamoto’s side, latching onto him instead when another tacky cardboard cutout erupted from the walls with a shrill screech.

With Natsume still in the back, eventually Tanuma slowed his pace to match Natsume’s.

“That was kind of…weak,” Tanuma said.

Natsume smiled. “It was, but maybe it will get scarier?”

“Maybe.”

The decorations were nice at least, the walls covered in cob-webs and blood-like stains, but it didn’t faze him much. It was all so obviously fake that he didn’t pay it much mind. Even Tanuma who’d been nervous about coming from the beginning seemed at ease now.

After a few minutes of walking through the maze, a low laugh rumbled from up ahead. Natsume wasn’t too nervous, but he saw Tanuma inch slightly closer to his side.

“W-What was that?” Nishimura babbled nervously. “You guys hear that?”

The laughter only grew louder as they entered a darkened room. Tanuma grabbed a hold of Natsume’s jacket as they entered, the room got to the point of complete darkness, only a small light on the floor ahead showing where they were expected to walk.

Abruptly, a light flashed from ahead and both Nishimura and Kitamoto let out a yell.

The dark laughter boomed and Tanuma’s grip grew tighter on Natsume’s jacket. Natsume looked to where the light had flashed; he could just barely make out the shape of a person.

“Hello,” He said pleasantly, trying to dispel Tanuma’s nerves. Kitamoto laughed from up ahead upon hearing him. “Excuse me.”

The human shape approached him, getting very close inside his personal space in an attempt to scare him. The mask was silly upon closer look; even in the dim light he could see the plastic of a simple werewolf mask. The laughter however was a little unsettling, whoever the actor behind the mask was doing a good job with what little props they had to work with.

Tanuma wasn’t nearly as relaxed though and was now tugging Natsume along.

“I’m sorry, did that scare you?” Natusme said, genuinely concerned.

“A little, yeah. Not the costume so much, but dark spaces like that make me a little uneasy,” Tanuma admitted, seeming embarrassed.

 They exited the dark room to meet up with the others. Kitamoto seemed relaxed again, pleased that he was successfully scared.

“Don’t worry about it. That’s a good thing I guess, since that’s why we’re here.”

“You know,” Nishimura said. “I really thought of the four of us you’d be the easiest to scare, Natsume. Why aren’t you scared!? You’re completely unfazed! ”

“Don’t be stupid Nishimura, you know Natsume’s always tells the best scary stories.” Kitamoto said.

“That’s not the same!”

They laughed, and Natsume couldn’t help but tease Nishimura _just a little_ the next time he screamed.

“It’s so obviously a guy in a mask! He didn’t even surprise us or anything he just walked up to us.” Kitamoto said.

“You screamed at the other guy, don’t act like you weren’t a little scared.”

“The other guy surprised us; it was totally dark I didn’t expect anyone to be there.”

They bantered back and forth, Natsume watched as a few more people in costumes appeared in a lackluster attempt to scare them. Tanuma had let go of Natsume and had just been keeping pace with him.

Natsume glanced back to see how far they had come and startled. A figure was following them, what looked to be a person draped over in a black cape with little clawed feet coming out the front. He couldn’t make out the details, but it was the first scary thing he’s seen tonight.

Tanuma noticed his distraction. “What is it?”

“I didn’t notice the guy following us, the costume is actually kind of scary,” Natsume said nervously. 

They all glanced back, an uncomprehending look coming to their faces.

Natsume stopped dead and for the first time that night, fear sunk low in his stomach.

“Holy shit Natsume, you are the scariest thing here, you got me good,” Kitamoto said, laughing nervously. “I have chills.”  

Tanuma looked visibly worried, but hid it when Natsume put on a blank expression. “Yeah sorry. Couldn’t help myself. Nishimura is too easy.”

“Hey! Don’t do that Natsume!” Nishimura protested. “This place is scary enough!”

Kitamoto rolled his eyes, “This place is barely scary.”

Natsume swallowed thickly, his eyes darting back to the figure following closely behind. A youkai, was it following him or just walking through the maze like they were?

“Natsume, is everything okay?” Tanuma asked. He didn’t want to lie to him, but right now he didn’t know what they were dealing with.

“I’m not sure yet.”

He kept an eye on the figure for the rest of the maze. There were a few more small scares here and there, but still by the end everyone except Nishimura had agreed that it wasn’t all that scary.

“It was fun though, I’m glad we went.” Kitamoto said as they took the train to go home. “We should go again next year if they have it… or we can find something scarier to do.”

They all agreed, it had been fun. Natsume had lost sight of the shadow and the knot in his stomach eased slightly.

It was only as they were getting off the train did the shadow appear again and Natsume hoped Nyanko-sensei would find him soon, wherever his bodyguard was tonight.

“Natsume?” Tanuma turned from the group; he’d been paying close attention to Natsume all night. “Are you okay?”

Natsume swallowed thickly, “The youkai, it’s following us.”

Tanuma glanced ahead, squinting to where Natsume’s eyes were directed. The forest put the path in shadow, but he could see faint lines and a slightly darker patch of color that differed from the rest of the area.

“Has it said anything?”

“No.”

“You guys coming?” Kitamoto called for them and he forced himself to move ahead, hoping his expression didn’t give away his fear.

_Boy, what are you most afraid of?_

“Now it has.” Natsume muttered just loud enough for Tanuma to hear.

_Am I not frightening enough for you? You don’t smell as afraid as you should be._

“What’s it saying?”

_Perhaps I’ll have to find out._

“It wants to know what I’m afraid of.” Natsume said quietly.

The figure, which had been a few paces behind him, had now surged ahead, floating in front of him as he walked.

_What of this boy? Do you fear for him?_

The shadow loomed suddenly, growing larger. Teeth started to appear, emerging from its form to create a large, one that was threatening to swallow Tanuma whole.

Natsume surged forward, his insides turning from sheer panic. He didn’t bother to hide his reaction as he dove to shove the youkai back before those teeth could close around his friend.

“Natsume!”

He fell and tumbled, badly scraping his knee, face landing hard on the ground. The youkai had evaporated around him as Natsume had reached for it. The youkai now stood off to the side of the path, unperturbed.

_Ah you fear for him quite a lot. Your fear is sweet, so potent. It consumes you whole, such a delicious smell._

_Do you fear for the others in the same way?_

Tanuma knelt at his side as the others ran to join him. Natsume’s eyes followed the youkai as it approached Kitamoto, its claw-like appendages reaching out for Kitamoto’s foot.

“Wait stop!” Natsume shouted, but he was too late. Kitamoto tripped over the youkai’s claw and fell hard. Natsume stood up despite the pain in his legs and ran towards where his friend now lay.

“Kitamoto, are you okay?”

“Ow…seems I tripped on whatever you did, Natsume.”

 The youkai seemed delighted, laughing manically from where it stood by the tree line.

“You’re both clumsy; here let me help you up.” Nishimura said. “Damn Natsume, looks like you fell face first.”

Natsume couldn’t respond so jokingly, his worst fears were being realized. A youkai was targeting his friends _because of him_.

_Ah, your fear is so very delicious. I’ve never tasted anything so sweet._

“Natsume?” He felt Tanuma’s hand on his shoulder. “Here, you’re bleeding let me-“

Tanuma took the edge of his sleeve and wiped Natsume’s chin and lower lip. He blushed, wondering how bad it looked. He hoped the Fujiwaras wouldn’t notice, he worried them enough on a daily basis. Based on the taste of blood in his mouth he bet he was going to have to come up with some kind of excuse.

He hated lying to them, repeating half truths like ‘I fell’ or ‘I was looking for Nyanko-sensei.’ They were old and worn, such obvious lies he wonders why they hadn’t confronted him yet.

“How bad do I look?”

Tanuma reached up to wipe some dirt from Natsume’s cheek. “Not so bad.” Tanuma frowned slightly, as if reading his mind. “The Fujiwaras will notice though.”

Natsume sighed heavily, watching the youkai carefully from the corner of his vision.

Nishimura’s eyes lit up, “Tell the girls at school tomorrow you got in a fight, girls will flock to you and then I can swoop in and—“

Kitamoto playfully shoved him, “Definitely don’t do that. Besides I think Natsume might already be kind of popular with the girls. He’s got that mysterious thing going for him.”

Natsume, who was only half-listening to the conversation, turned his head, “What did you say?” 

“Nothing.” Nishimura and Kitamoto said in unison.

Tanuma chuckled, though his attention was also diverted to the tree-line where the youkai was lurking. He could feel it, the slight headache, a strange form that appeared and disappeared on the edge of his vision.

“We should hurry back, it’s getting late.” Natsume said solemnly, leading the group ahead. The youkai followed closely, laughing manically as it crept close.

 

 

Natsume parted ways with his friends for the night and he couldn’t have been more relieved, the youkai had stayed with him and seemed to be appeased after successfully scaring him. He hadn’t gone into his home yet, waiting outside for Nyanko-sensei to return and get rid of him so he could have some peace.

He stared at it; it was closer now, practically brushing up against his side. Natsume wondered briefly if he would have to call Natori and exorcise it, he hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

The youkai seemed larger somehow from earlier, as if Natsume’s fear had fed it to this new size. He hoped that wasn’t the case, he couldn’t control his fear when it came to his friends’ well-being.  The youkai’s appearance seemed to change regularly, the aura around it fluctuating between that of a physical shadow and that of smoke, fog-like and untouchable. 

He felt as if it was looking at him, though he could not find a discernible face in the creature. He had seen a mouth and teeth earlier; he fought the feeling of fear that sprung at the mental image. The youkai had been horrifying though, its mouth looming over Tanuma like that.

Tanuma, who had stayed with Natsume, until he demanded that Tanuma go home. It took some convincing, Tanuma insisting that they stay together with this youkai until Nyanko-sensei could deal with it. But Nyanko-sensei may not come home and it wasn’t Natsume who was in danger, it was Tanuma. Right now, simply being near Natsume was dangerous. Who knows what this youkai would do, just to see if Natsume would react.

The youkai was probably feeding off him now like that, he was still very afraid, afraid of what this youkai would do. He could practically feel the youkai’s satisfaction, as if it had found the most delicious of prey.

“Hey, Natsume!” Nyanko-sensei trotted out of the woods. It was late and Natsume’s irritation was palpable in the air as he stared at the bottle Nyanko-sensei dragged with him. “What youkai did you pick up now?”

The dark shadow suddenly increased in size, towering over Nyanko-sensei, as if it was preparing to feast on him.

_This is my prey; I will claim it from you._

 “Wimp, do you know who you’re dealing with?” Nyanko-sensei challenged and in a burst of light the youkai wailed and skittered away.

Natsume breathed a sigh of relief, “Thank you.”

“Is that wimp what happened to your face?”

Natsume grumbled, “If my _bodyguard_ would have been with me none of this would’ve happened.”

“You couldn’t handle that wimp! You deserve to be eaten!”

The rest of the night went smoothly and Natsume felt at ease as he sat with the Fujiwaras over dinner.  Touko fussed over him and applied disinfectant to the small cuts on his face. They didn’t seem to pay any mind to his explanation, the one they’ve heard so many times before. He went to bed that night with a lump in his throat that held all the unsaid feelings he couldn’t find the words for.

 

 

Natsume was used to nightmares. Used to the way they left his chest aching, his eyes stinging with held back tears. He was used to the feeling of loneliness and sadness they caused, how he’d sometimes wake from memories that he’d drowned away for too long, they’d come to the surface uninvited before returning to the depths of his subconscious.

This was different. This was fire. He watched a familiar house splinter and crumble in flames. He felt burned, a molten hot feeling filling chest. A fire of anger, vindictive and sick in a way he’s never felt before. It wasn’t him; he didn’t have this kind of rage in him.

But he would, he knew he would if the sight before him was real. The book of friends lay in his hands, and a feeling perched itself in the back of his throat, an unkind feeling he could only describe as _thirsty_.

With a kind of cruelty he didn’t know he possessed, he carelessly threw the book into the flames and watched as the heat curled the pages into ashes.

Natsume woke up heaving. He rushed to the bathroom, stumbling as he went and clutched the edge of the sink. He leaned over it, the panic and dread intensifying everything around him. He wanted to cry, but the disgusting feeling in his stomach was too overwhelming to allow him tears.

“It’s not me… that was not me. I wouldn’t—”

“Takashi?”

Shigeru stood outside the bathroom; he’d left the door open.

“I-I’m f-fine,” He stuttered out, trying to keep his voice calm. “I’m sorry for waking you, it’s nothing.”

He willed himself to calm down, breathe deeply.  It was just a dream, just a dream.

 “It’s alright, are you feeling sick?” Shigeru approached him slowly. “Is your stomach upset?”

Natsume moved to speak but the mental image of the Fujiwara’s house in cinders choked him. Instead, he simply nodded, his head sinking back down to rest at the edge of the sink.

They were quiet for a few moments as Natsume fought the imagery so he could present some semblance of sanity to Shigeru. Then Shigeru placed a soothing hand on Natsume’s back. The offer of comfort was grounding and he finally breathed deeply. He cleared his throat, willing it not to crack as he spoke, “Thank you. Please go back to bed. I’ll be okay in a moment.”

It was clear that Shigeru was debating staying and pushing for a proper answer, but he thankfully conceded. “Don’t hesitate to come get us if you need anything.”

The comforting warmth stopped. He made his way slowly back to his room, repeatedly glancing back at Natsume until he was out of sight. Natsume was relieved he didn’t see, and now that he was alone he let go his tight control and let the fear have its way.

 

 

The next morning was horrible. Touko found him on the bathroom floor, curled in on himself by the sink. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt so weak.

“You should’ve woken me, Takashi,” She scolded, but her eyes were filled with only concern.

“I’m sorry.”  

He’d made them worry countless times, but this was the first time he’d made them feel guilty about it. Shigeru had left that morning looking pained and he knows it was because of him.

 He didn’t remember falling asleep; he remembered that the cold floor had felt nice and that it distracted him from the heat of the nightmare. If only he had made it back to his room that night…he’s surprised Nyanko-sensei never came to get him. 

He put on his school uniform, despite Touko’s protest that he take a day off. He assured her he’s fine, but he could sense her worry.

He tried to think of a way to make it up to them on the way to school, but nothing came to mind that would make much of a difference. Nyanko-sensei kept close, but remained unusually quiet for most of the walk to school.  Natsume ended up being the one to break it.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?”

Nyanko-sensei gave him an unreadable look, “By the time you actually fell asleep, it would’ve been cruel to wake you up.”

Natsume couldn’t think of a good response, “Oh.”

School wasn’t much better; he fell asleep in class three times and got yelled at twice. The third time he slept on, until that hot feeling crept up in his chest and he practically fell out of his chair when he startled out of the beginnings of the dream.

When the break in the day finally came he soaked it up gratefully, retreating to the hallway away from curious eyes.

 “Hey.” Tanuma greeted him.

Natsume wanted to hide his face, Tanuma was usually the one he opened up to, but the idea of telling him any part of his dreamed filled him with dread.

“Kitamoto said you haven’t been yourself today, is the youkai issue still not solved?” Tanuma asked, his voice low and concerned.

If it wasn’t for the dreams, he’d have nearly forgotten about the youkai, “For now it seems to be.”

The moment the words left his mouth they felt like a lie. His dreams were only ever so vivid when a youkai was involved, “But maybe not.”

“How come?”

“Nyanko sent it away, but….I had these dreams. They were unlike anything I’ve ever had before. I don’t think they’re natural,” Natsume confessed. He covered his face with his hands, wishing he could just shut his eyes and sleep without fear, “I’m sorry, I don’t want to scare you like this.”

Tanuma placed a supporting hand on his shoulder, “You’re not scaring me, but I’m worried about you. You don’t look so well.”

Natsume gave him a weak smile, “I’m just a little uneasy, that’s all.”

Cinders flashed in his mind again, the book of friends burning. The fear of this dream, of the feelings that it forced him to acknowledge, do they really exist in the darkest parts of his soul?

“Natsume?” 

He took a deep breath, easing the tension out of his chest. He focused on Tanuma’s warm hand on his shoulder. For now, everything was okay. Nyanko-sensei stayed at the house for protection, nothing was going to happen.

“I’m okay.”

Or at least he was, until he looked down the hall and saw the shadow from yesterday.

Something must’ve shown on his face, because Tanuma immediately stepped in front of him in a subtlety protective stance.

“What’s there? The youkai?” Tanuma asked sternly.

“Yes.”

“What’s it doing?”

Natsume watched it; even though it didn’t have much of a face Natsume would say it looked mischievous. Something was going to happen, but he wasn’t sure what.

The hallway was empty except for the two of them; Natsume glanced nervously between the youkai and Tanuma, trying to figure out its next move. He thought he could predict what kind of move it would make, whatever scared Natsume the most.

His imagination could only come up with one scenario, Tanuma and the open window.

The youkai made no move, but Natsume quickly pulled Tanuma to the other side of the hallway and stepped forward, he’d much rather if he could face this thing head on.

“What do you want?”

Hopefully no one would show, but maybe he didn’t care who saw him anymore, his friends were in danger after all, as long as they were safe then Natsume could rest easy.

_I already have it. You are so very afraid for all your precious friends. You make it so easy._

_Do you know what your biggest fear is? I can tell you, if you don’t already know._

Natsume paused, so the youkai was responsible for the dreams. “I’m aware.”

_Are you really?_

_I could make it so much worse than that you know, because you’re afraid of yourself more than anything, of the power you hold in that precious book. It’s such a burden to bear, isn’t it? It’s like you’re a god, holding all that power. You could destroy everything if you wanted to._

“Shut up, I would never—“

_Famous last words. Oh, here comes your friend now, shall I?_

Natsume and Tanuma watched as Kitamoto turned the corner. The youkai was surely grinning as it moved around him, looking as if it was ready to pounce.

“What’s happening?” said Tanuma, his worry evident in his voice.

“I don’t know yet.”

Kitamoto looked up and saw them. He waved, oblivious.

The youkai passed through him and Kitamoto stopped walking, a shiver running through him, the youkai positioned itself outside the building, poised just aside the window. Natsume knew what would happen next. It was all too familiar.

Natsume didn’t register much else before he was running, “Kitamoto! Get down!”

There was a loud crash, the sound of the windows blowing in ringing in his ears. He’d somehow made it to Kitamoto in time, his body positioned protectively over his friend.  

“Natsume? What the hell was that?!” Kitamoto shouted, looking up at Natsume. 

Natsume sagged in relief, thankful that Kitamoto seemed uninjured.  He glanced back to Tanuma, making sure he was okay too. “You’re both alright, I’m so glad.”

Darkness encroaches on his vision, he hears the youkai’s wicked laugh from a distance.

He’s so tired all of a sudden.

“What were you—Natsume!”

 

 

Natsume was familiar with this kind of dream. The ones that weren’t his own, visions that did not belong to him.

Strange, the youkai never asked for his name, yet…

Reiko was there, as always.

“Why do you keep asking me what I’m afraid of? Not a very comforting thing for someone to ask on their first meeting.”

_I can smell it on you, you are afraid._

“Not of you.”

 _I can make you be_.

“Honestly, there is nothing that you could do to me that would make me afraid of you, so just go away. Or better yet, how about we play a game?”

_What kind of game?_

“We have a duel. If I win, you tell me what you’re afraid of and maybe you give me your name. If you win, then I’ll tell you what I’m afraid of. Any maybe you can eat me? Whatever, deal?”

The youkai’s teeth appeared, it grinned wickedly. 

_I accept._

 

 

He woke in the nurse’s room. His head felt hazy, the first thing he registered was that his arm hurt terribly.

“Natsume, you’re awake!” Kitamoto exclaimed happily. “You had me worried, thanks for taking that hit for me.”

Kitamoto gestured and Natsume looked down to see his arm wrapped. He didn’t remember any glass hitting him. Did he fall on it?

“How do you feel?”  Kitamoto asked.

“I’m okay, but what happened?”

“The glass got you? I don’t know how you did it, but you stopped it from hitting me. You only lost a little bit of blood, but you fainted. What was that anyway? You seemed to see it coming, but I never saw anything. Teachers didn’t either.”

Natsume was at a loss for words, he had no cover story here. At least not yet, all the excuses that first came to mind seemed weak. Stray baseball crashing in the window? Sudden gale force winds? Would he be blamed? It wouldn’t be the first time.

“You’re awake!”

Natsume turned to see Tanuma come in, worry evident in his expression, “How’re you holding up.”

“Just fine.” Natsume answered, relieved he didn’t have to answer Kitamoto just yet. “Are you alright?”

“Don’t worry about me or Kitamoto, we’re alright. You worried us sick, we carried you here.”

“You bled all over the floor upstairs, I wonder who will have to clean that up.”  Kitamoto said lightly.

Natsume winced. “I’m sorry; I thought you said I only lost a little blood?”

“Only a little, but it sure didn’t look like it at first.” Kitamoto said, fidgeting awkwardly, “Honestly, thank you for uh…protecting me like that.”

Natsume was lost for words, so he just nodded in reply.  If he hadn’t been there, Kitamoto might not have been in danger at all. If he stayed home this morning…

But then the Fujiwaras might have been in danger, and he might not have the knowledge he knows now.

Unexpectedly, the curtain was pulled back and the nurse gave Kitamoto and Tanuma slightly scolding looks. “Hello Natsume, I see you have guests. I’m just letting you know that your guardians are on their way to get you.”

Natsume swallowed thickly, he caused them trouble.

Would they send him away? No…of course not they wouldn’t. They wanted him here. But the last time this happened…He’s tried his hardest to not cause problems for them.

No, he would not panic. If he was going to defeat this youkai and ensure everyone’s safety, he would not panic.

The nurse turned to Kitamoto, “You can thank your hero then get back to class, understood?”

“Yes ma’am,” Kitamoto said. “See you Natsume, feel better.”

“Thanks.”

“And you…” The nurse turned to Tanuma, “Are you feeling better? The pain medication kicked in yet?”

“My head still hurts a bit.” Tanuma said, it didn’t look like he was lying.

“When it starts kicking in, get back to class.”

Tanuma nodded but remained by Natsume’s side The curtain was pushed close and after a few minutes the nurse left again, allowing them to talk freely.

Tanuma breathed a sigh of relief, and reached for Natsume. “You have no idea how much you scared me, please don’t ever do that again Natsume.”

Natsume looked sheepish, “Sorry.”

“You should be…you were bleeding, I thought….” Tanuma took a calming breath.  “Never mind, don’t do it again _please_.”

Tanuma looked stress to the max and if Natsume had any doubts before they were gone now that he really did have a headache. He could see the pain and stress written in every line of Tanuma’s expression.

Knowing he was in pain made his next words harder to say, “I may need your help.”

Tanuma perked up, “What is it?”

“If you’re in too much pain, you can get Taki. I just need help getting a full body mirror. And I need my bag.”

Tanuma didn’t hesitate, “I’m on it.”

Natsume hoped this whole thing would be solved before the Fujiwaras arrived. Thankfully, Tanuma retrieved everything he needed quickly. “They replaced the mirror in the science lab thankfully; I’m surprised no one questioned why I wheeled this down the hallway.”

 Natsume nodded and he retrieved the book of friends from his bag. The youkai would surely come soon enough. The vision was still fresh in his mind, it wouldn’t be difficult to get rid of if that vision held true.

Tanuma sat with him and waited, Natsume knew when he was approaching. He could feel the familiar unease pervaded the area when it came around.

“Is it here? I feel something,” Tanuma asked.

“Yes, it’s here.”

The plan was simple; show the youkai its reflection.

His imagination played the rest of the vision, Reiko had teased the youkai. Unlike him, Reiko didn’t have many weakness and few people she truly cared about. The youkai got bored, so Reiko started to guess. There were plenty of hints, ones that Natsume had missed.

  _“You show me strange dreams youkai,” Reiko had said._

_“But they’re not very scary, why would I be afraid of myself. I’m the only one I can trust after all.”_

She had produced a mirror and showed the youkai its reflection. 

_“Is this what you are afraid of? I guess that makes sense for fear to be afraid of itself. It’s just like that saying.”_

Tanuma had the mirror turned away at the moment; all he had to do was turn it towards the youkai once it got close enough.

 The youkai approached the end of the bed, the book of friends opened in his lap. The youkai stood at the foot of his bed, baring teeth. Tanuma’s hands shook.

Not yet.

“You never mentioned you wanted your name back.” Natsume told it.

_Why would you return it? After all, don’t you need it to defeat me?_

“That which shields me,” Natsume spoke firmly. He clapped his hands together, the sound echoing within the room, “Reveal thy name.”

 Tanuma flipped the mirror around, paralyzing the youkai as it gazed upon itself. 

“I return your name.”

_“Fear incarnate, huh? Could’ve guessed though, you’re pretty obvious. You’re not that scary though.”_

_I can be._

_“Maybe to the people who have something to lose.”_

The vision made him sad; did Reiko really have so little?

“Is it gone?”

Tanuma’s voice shook him from the vision. Natsume looked to the end of the bed, it seemed to be gone. Fear was how Reiko defeated it, hopefully the same applied to him. He’d ask Sensei about it again, later. In the meantime, he could finally relax.  

“Yeah…I think so.”

Tanuma grinned, “Good. I’m glad I could help; now you can get better.”

Natsume nodded and eased back into the bed, his exhaustion returning tenfold now that he’d returned another name.

His eyelids drooped and he fought for consciousness as he heard the sound of footsteps, someone coming in.

“Oh hello, how is Takashi? I came as soon as I could.”  The voice of Touko-san, she didn’t sound mad, only concerned.

“He’s tired, he was just awake a few moments ago, but he seems to be asleep now.” Tanuma’s voice was gentle, filled with care.

He listened to their warm voices, overflowing with fondness. The comfort he took from the sound eased him into a dreamless sleep.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I can't believe I wrote about my son getting scared and hurt. I wanted to write this before Halloween and now I am one day late oops.  
> I've been meaning to write something for 82 years, and today I had nothing to do (I have several things I should be doing) so I wrote this in one sitting and now its 2:30am. Where does the time go. I hope you like it! :)
> 
> I kind of edited, mostly skimmed  
> See a mistake feel free to point it out this is probably riddled with them I forgot how to write  
> Hit me up at username Suzariah on tumblr if you want to chat.


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